1993 Florida State Seminoles football
Consensus national champion
ACC champion
Orange Bowl champion
Orange Bowl, W 18–16 vs. Nebraska
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
Record12–1 (8–0 ACC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBrad Scott (4th season)
Defensive coordinatorMickey Andrews (10th season)
Home stadiumDoak Campbell Stadium
(Capacity: 72,589)
1993 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 1 Florida State $  8 –0   12 –1  
No. 19 North Carolina  6 –2   10 –3  
No. 23 Clemson  5 –3   9 –3  
Virginia  5 –3   7 –5  
NC State  4 –4   7 –5  
Georgia Tech  3 –5   5 –6  
Duke  2 –6   3 –8  
Maryland  2 –6   2 –9  
Wake Forest  1 –7   2 –9  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1993 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University and were the national champions of the 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Bobby Bowden and played their home games at Doak Campbell Stadium.

The season gave the Seminoles their first national title as well as their first Heisman winner in quarterback Charlie Ward. Ward, who threw for 3,032 yards and completed 70 percent of his passes, became the first player to win the Heisman Trophy and the national championship in the same season since Pittsburgh's Tony Dorsett in 1976. [1]FSU topped college football in both scoring defense and scoring offense, with its defense giving up an average of 9.4 points per game and its offense scoring an average of 43.2 points a game. [2] In a testament to just how difficult the Seminoles' schedule was during its championship run, the final top 5 football rankings for the season were occupied by FSU at #1, and three of its opponents, including Notre Dame at #2, Nebraska at #3, and the University of Florida at #5. [3]

Season

FSU beat its first five opponents by an average score of 46–3, during which linebacker Derrick Brooks outscored all five opponents combined. The Seminoles' first real contest didn't come until October 9, when the third ranked Miami Hurricanes came to Tallahassee with a 31-game regular season win streak. That game was sealed when FSU safety Devin Bush picked off a Frank Costa pass and ran it back 40 yards for a Florida State touchdown, making the score 28–10 with 4:59 to play.

On November 13, 1993, Florida State played Notre Dame in a matchup of unbeaten teams. FSU was ranked #1 and Notre Dame was ranked #2. In a matchup hailed as the "Game of the Century", the Seminoles bid for a perfect season fell short as Notre Dame prevailed, 31–24. The Irish had leads of 24–7 and 31–17 before the Seminoles scored late to cut the final margin to seven points.[4] After that game, Notre Dame was voted #1 and FSU was voted #2.[5]

The following week, #1 Notre Dame lost at home to #17 Boston College 41–39 on a 41-yard field goal as time expired, while the Seminoles beat NC State 62-3. The voters returned the Seminoles to the #1 spot in AP poll, and it rose to #2 in the Coaches' poll[6], while Notre Dame fell to a ranking of 4th in both polls[7]. The week after, FSU faced the 7th-ranked Florida Gators, the 1993 SEC champions, and defeated them 33-21 in an away game. In the postseason, FSU was matched against Nebraska (ranked #2 in final regular season AP poll) in the Orange Bowl. Florida State rallied late to eke out an 18–16 win, as Nebraska missed a potential game-winning 45-yard field goal on the game's final play.[8] After the bowl games, 12–1 Florida State was voted #1 and 11–1 Notre Dame #2 in both polls.

During the 1993 season, the Seminoles faced 4 teams in the top 7 of the AP rankings when FSU played them -- Miami ranked #3 in week 6, Notre Dame ranked #2 in week 11, the University of Florida ranked #7 in week 13, and Nebraska ranked #2 at the end of the regular season[9] -- and they went 3-1 against those teams, while playing only 1 home game in those 4 contests[10]. By the end of season, FSU had faced 6 of the teams ranked in the final AP top 25 poll, ultimately going 5-1 against them. These teams were #2 ranked Notre Dame, #3 Nebraska, #5 Florida, #15 Miami, #19 North Carolina, and #23 Clemson[11].

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
August 2812:00 p.m.vs. Kansas*No. 1
ABCW 42–051,734
September 47:00 p.m.at DukeNo. 1
PPVW 45–726,800
September 1112:00 p.m.No. 17 ClemsonNo. 1
JPSW 57–074,991
September 187:30 p.m.at No. 13 North CarolinaNo. 1
ESPNW 33–754,100
October 212:00 p.m.Georgia TechNo. 1
  • Doak Campbell Stadium
  • Tallahassee, FL
ABCW 51–074,611
October 912:00 p.m.No. 3 Miami (FL)*No. 1
  • Doak Campbell Stadium
  • Tallahassee, FL (rivalry)
ABCW 28–1077,813
October 164:00 p.m.No. 15 VirginiaNo. 1
ESPNW 40–1476,607
October 302:00 p.m.Wake ForestNo. 1
  • Doak Campbell Stadium
  • Tallahassee, FL
W 55–066,666
November 612:00 p.m.at MarylandNo. 1
JPSW 49–2036,255
November 131:30 p.m.at No. 2 Notre Dame*No. 1
NBCL 24–3159,075
November 207:30 p.m.NC StateNo. 2
  • Doak Campbell Stadium
  • Tallahassee, FL
ESPNW 62–373,123
November 2712:00 p.m.at No. 7 Florida*No. 1
ABCW 33–2185,507[12]
January 18:00 p.m.vs. No. 2 Nebraska*No. 1
NBCW 18–1681,536
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1993 Florida State Seminoles football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos.#NameClass
RT 60 Marvin Ferrell Sr
FB 32 Zack Crockett Sr
WR 30 'Omar Ellison  Jr
FB 44 William Floyd Sr
QB 13 Danny Kanell So
WR 15 Phillip Riley So
C 53 Clay Shiver So
QB 5 Jon Stark So
WR 80 Tamarick Vanover So
QB 17 Charlie Ward Sr
 Defense
Pos.#NameClass
CB 2 Clifton Abraham Jr
DB 11 Devin Bush Sr. So
LB 10 Derrick Brooks Jr
CB 4 Corey Fuller Jr
DE 94 Toddrick McIntosh  Sr
CB 8 Corey Sawyer Jr
 Special teams
Pos.#NameClass
K 3 Scott Bentley Fr
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Starting lineup

Offense

Heisman winner Charlie Ward
Pos Number Name Class
QB 17 Charlie Ward SR
RB 35 Sean Jackson SR
FB 44 William Floyd SR
WR 80 Tamarick Vanover SO
WR 88 Kez McCorvey JR
WR 12 Matt Frier SR
LT 67 Juan Laureano SO
LG 66 Lewis Tyre SO
C 53 Clay Shiver SO
RG 69 Patrick McNeil JR
RT 60 Marvin Ferrell SR

Defense

Pos Number Name Class
LB 10 Derrick Brooks JR
LB 37 Todd Rebol SO
LB 36 Ken Alexander SR
DE 94 Toddrick McIntosh SR
DE 90 Derrick Alexander SO
NG 57 John Nance SR
CB 2 Clifton Abraham JR
CB 8 Corey Sawyer JR
FS 16 Richard Coes SR
SS 11 Devin Bush SO

Special teams

Pos Number Name Class
K 3 Scott Bentley FR
P 29 Sean Liss FR
KR
PR

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
( ) = First place votes.
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP1 (42)1 (47)1 (50)1 (59)1 (57)1 (58)1 (61)1 (61)1 (62)1 (62)1 (62)1 (62)21 (33)1 (42)1 (42)1 (46)
Coaches1 (47)1 (54)1 (56)1 (59)1 (59)1 (58)1 (57)1 (58)1 (59)1 (59)1 (59)1 (60)32 (11)3 (10)3 (13)1 (36)

Game summaries

Kansas

At Duke

Clemson

At North Carolina

Georgia Tech

Miami (FL)

#3 Miami (FL) Hurricanes (4–0) at #1 Florida State Seminoles (5–0)
Period 1 2 34Total
Miami (FL) 7 0 0310
Florida St 14 7 0728

at Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida

  • Date: October 9
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy, 74 °F (23 °C)
  • Game attendance: 77,813
  • Referee: John Soffey
  • TV: ABC
  • Box Score
Game information

Virginia

Wake Forest

At Maryland

At Notre Dame

Florida State at Notre Dame
1 234Total
No. 1 Seminoles 7 0710 24
• No. 2 Fighting Irish 7 1437 31

NC State

At Florida

#1 Florida State Seminoles (10–1) at #7 Florida Gators (9–1)
Period 1 2 34Total
Florida St 7 6 14633
Florida 0 7 01421

at Ben Hill Griffith Stadium, Gainesville, Florida

  • Date: November 27
  • Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 75 °F (24 °C)
  • Game attendance: 85,507
  • Referee: Dayle Phillips
  • TV: ABC
  • Box Score
Game information

Vs. Nebraska (Orange Bowl)

Florida State vs Nebraska
1 234Total
• No. 1 Seminoles 0 693 18
No. 2 Cornhuskers 0 709 16
Scoring summary
Q27:54FSUScott Bentley 34-yard field goalFSU 3–0
Q25:59NebReggie Baul 34-yard pass from Tommie Frazier (Byron Bennett kick)Neb 7–3
Q20:29FSUScott Bentley 25-yard field goalNeb 7–6
Q312:50FSUWilliam Floyd 1-yard run (pass failed)FSU 12–7
Q33:06FSUScott Bentley 39-yard field goalFSU 15–7
Q414:55NebLawrence Phillips 12-yard run (run failed)FSU 15–13
Q41:16NebByron Bennett 27-yard field goalNeb 16–15
Q40:21FSUScott Bentley 22-yard field goalFSU 18–16

Awards and honors

  • Charlie Ward, Heisman Trophy[13]
  • Charlie Ward, Johnny Unitas Award
  • Charlie Ward, James E. Sullivan Award[14]
  • Charlie Ward, Walter Camp Award
  • Charlie Ward, Maxwell Award
  • Charlie Ward, Davey O'Brien Award

1993 team players in the NFL

The following were selected in the 1994 NFL Draft.

PlayerPositionRoundOverallNFL team
William FloydRunning back128San Francisco 49ers
Lonnie JohnsonTight end261Buffalo Bills
Corey SawyerDefensive back4104Cincinnati Bengals
Sean JacksonRunning back4129Houston Oilers
Kevin KnoxWide receiver6192Buffalo Bills
Toddrick McIntoshDefensive tackle7216Dallas Cowboys

[15]

The following would play in the NFL in later years.

References

  1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_NCAA_Division_I-A_football_season
  2. ↑ http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/archive/fbs/1993team.pdf
  3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_NCAA_Division_I-A_football_rankings
  4. ↑ 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season#Final rankings
  5. ↑ "November 16, 1993 Football Polls - College Poll Archive - Historical College Football and Basketball Polls and Rankings".
  6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_NCAA_Division_I-A_football_rankings
  7. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_NCAA_Division_I-A_football_rankings
  8. ↑ "Nebraska vs Florida State 1994 Orange Bowl -- HuskerMax".
  9. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_NCAA_Division_I-A_football_rankings
  10. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_NCAA_Division_I-A_football_season
  11. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_NCAA_Division_I-A_football_rankings
  12. ↑ "Ward, Seminoles survive 'The Swamp'". The Times and Democrat. November 28, 1993. Retrieved November 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Heisman.com - Heisman Trophy". Archived from the original on September 16, 2009. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
  14. ↑ "AAU Sullivan Award".
  15. ↑ "1994 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
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